Warrior-Priests: The Christian Life as Sacred Combat

Maclaren perceives in Isaiah's call to 'ye that bear the vessels of the Lord' a dual image that shatters false dichotomies in Christian discipleship. The exiles returning from Babylon carry both weapons and sacred implements—they are simultaneously soldiers and priests. This is no accident of metaphor but the very essence of redeemed existence. The prophet's vision moves beyond the historical return from captivity through Babylon's transparency into the ultimate redemption in Christ.…